


Derezzed

by afteriwake



Series: A Thousand Suns [14]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-16
Updated: 2012-10-16
Packaged: 2017-11-16 10:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/538628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And with this act the stakes were raised.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Derezzed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thiscanbegin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thiscanbegin/gifts).



> Answering **thiscanbegin** ’s prompt of gen or any pairing and “have you ever looked fear in the face?” I don’t think that was what she’d intended for this prompt, but oh well. I was originally going to kill the one I didn’t kill, but as I was writing it just took on a whole other direction and is much sadder for it. Set three days after “One More Drama.”

“So, that was…boring,” Karin said with a laugh, looking at Hitsugaya, who only grunted. “I don’t feel comfortable in those meetings.”

“You’ve only been in two so far,” he said with a grunt.

“And two is more than enough. I’d much rather be hunting Hollows.” She turned away and smiled at the city landscape before them. It was dark, and all the lights were on all over the city. Even though it was winter there wasn’t much chill in the air. “It’s so beautiful here at night.”

“I guess,” he said with a shrug.

“Are you okay?” she asked, putting a hand on his arm. “You just seem more...grumpy than usual.”

“I’m sorry if I’m bothering you,” he said.

“Stop snapping at me,” she said. “You’re my friend, Toshiro. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

He looked at her, then looked down. He knew why she was suddenly being included in the strategy meetings. He wasn’t stupid, but he didn’t like being pushed around by others, even if the one doing the pushing didn’t really realize what she was doing because she was being guided by someone who did. And he knew he shouldn’t hold it against Karin. “It’s fine. I just hate those meetings too.”

“Then let’s go hunt some Hollows, all right?” she said with a smile.

“Okay,” he said with a nod. He started to say something else but he felt the sudden spike in the air. “Arrancar,” he said softly, looking behind him. But then he felt a sudden pain, and his world went black.

\--

“We were just supposed to grab the girl, you idiot. He’s the real deal.”

“Well, what were we gonna do, leave him? Who knew how long he’d be out. At least here he can’t escape to warn the others.”

“He’s going to be pissed. You want to deal with him?”

“Bring it on, I say. I can handle him.”

“It’s your funeral.”

The first thing Hitsugaya knew clearly was that he was tied up. The second thing he realized was that he could not feel the comfortable weight of Hyorinmaru on his back. He blinked a few times, and once his eyes were able to focus he saw Karin huddled into a fetal position on the floor near him. There was blood down the side of her face and a large gash on her forehead. The sight of her like that caused his blood to boil, but he kept calm, for both their sakes.

His attention was drawn by a sound to his left. He tried to look without looking up but all he saw were shoes entering the room. They were boots, and he saw blank pants covered him. They stood in front of him, and then nudged his bound legs. He said nothing, and when the boots nudged harder he had to resist the urge to make a noise. Finally the boots moved aside, and he started to lift his head up when he felt the boot impact with his chest. “Wake up, _Captain_ ,” he heard a masculine voice say. It sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it. It wasn’t until he lifted his head up after he caught his breath that he recognized the face.

“Ginjou Kugo,” he said hoarsely.

The man scowled at him, then went over to Karin. He grabbed her ponytail and lifted her head up. She didn’t respond, and he dropped her back down with a thud as he looked at the two Arrancar gathered by her. “Looks like you did a number on his sister. Pity.”

“I thought you were on our side,” Hitsugaya said.

Ginjou laughed, a truly wicked sound. “It took a while, but I finally got to the point where I could get my revenge on you shinigami assholes, even if it didn’t work out quite the way I’d hoped.”

“I had just joined the court guard when you were made a substitute,” he said.

“And this revenge isn’t against you, but it’s a wrong place, wrong time thing,” he said with a shrug. “My beef is with Ukitake, and your precious Captain Commander.”

“And you’ve allied yourself with the Hollows and Arrancar?” he asked with a scowl. 

“Only as much as it suits my purposes,” he said. “They have their own agenda, but they do want Karakura Town to be shinigami free, except for Kurosaki. For some reason their leader’s got a real thing for him. That’s the only real downside; I don’t get to kill him. Stupid punk ruined my original plan when Tsukishima screwed up.” He squatted next to Karin and lifted her head up again, jerking hard. “I get second best, though.”

“No!” Hitsugaya yelled, his eyes wide as she groaned. “Let her go! She hasn’t done anything.”

“Her death will get Kurosaki and all your assembled forces out in the open. Get them all nice and pissed off so they’ll make mistakes.”

“The last person that pissed Kurosaki off ended up rotting in deep dark hole in Soul Society,” Hitsugaya said.

“So what do you suggest I do? Kill you and spare her?”

“Yes.”

Ginjou blinked, then lowered Karin’s head slightly. “You’re serious.”

“She’s not even a substitute shinigami. She’s not important enough to anyone outside of Kurosaki and his human friends and family for her death to matter. Me, though, all those shinigami and even Kurosaki will get nice and angry. You’ll get them pissed off.”

Ginjou looked at him, then tossed Karin to the side. Her hands had not been bound, and she cautiously lifted herself up off the floor slightly. “Toshiro…” she whispered.

Ginjou advanced on him, grabbing his hair and pulling him up so he was kneeling. “Have any last words, Captain?”

“Karin, I…care about you. Very much. And I am sorry it had to end like this.”

“Toshiro, no,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. She started to push herself up further but one of the Arrancar came over, flipped her onto her back and put a foot on her chest. She looked at Hitsugaya, who did not look at her, and then at Ginjou, who had transformed his necklace into a huge sword. “Please don’t do this.”

“It’s you or him,” Ginjou said.

“Don’t even give her the choice!” Hitsugaya yelled. “Just do it!”

“You heard the man,” Ginjou said, lifting up his sword. Karin turned her head as it came swinging down, but she couldn’t cover her ears to the sound of sword slicing flesh or the thud of his head hitting the ground. She began to cry, and after a moment the foot on her chest lifted off, only to be replaced with Ginjou squatting down on her chest. “Go tell all his friends that we mean business, Kurosaki,” he said. 

She continued to sob. She had hoped that his sword wouldn’t be able to cut through his real body, that something would have caused it to stop. But even if he had been in his gigai, the damage done to it would have been done to him. Ginjou tousled her hair and then got up, leaving her alone with Hitsugaya’s body. She didn’t know how long she sobbed, but when she was spent she turned and looked. She was not ready for the sight, and felt bile in the back of her throat. But she could see a communicator by his head, and she inched her way over, avoiding it as best she could. She picked it up with trembling hands and turned it on. “Ichi-nii,” she sobbed into the communicator. “Ichi-nii, he’s gone.” And with that she curled into a ball and simply let the darkness overtake her.

\--

The next thing she felt was a mattress under her back instead of hard ground under her side. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw bright sunlight streaming in through her open window. Then she felt weight on her side, and saw Yuzu curled up next to her in bed. She looked at her sister, and then turned and looked at the door. Ichigo was sleeping in a chair by the bed, his head lolled back and his arms crossed against his chest. Her father sat in another chair nearer to the bed, and he was awake. “Karin,” he said quietly.

“Dad…he killed him,” she said quietly, feeling tears at the corners of her eyes and a lump in her throat., and through her now blurry vision she saw Ichigo stir and stretch. “He had himself killed to save me.”

Isshin nodded. “Who killed Captain Hitsugaya?”

“I don’t know. I was only kind of waking up when Toshiro said his name. I think it was Ginjou.”

“Did he have a necklace that he turned into a large sword?” Ichigo asked.

“Yes,” she said, tears slipping down her face. Yuzu had woken up by this point and put her arms around her sister’s waist, and Karin turned and buried her face in her twin’s shoulder and began to sob.

“Son of a bitch,” he muttered. “He was on their side the whole time!”

“We’ll get him,” Isshin said.

“Damn straight we will,” Ichigo said, his voice resembling a growl. He looked at his sister, then at his father. “I need to go tell the others.”

“Ichi-nii,” Karin said, her voice hiccupping slightly.

“Yeah?” he asked, going over to the bed and kneeling down so he was eye level with her.

“What happened to Toshiro?” she asked.

“I don’t know if his body dissolved into spirit particles, but I know his soul has come back here to the living world.”

“So I won’t see him if I end up in Soul Society,” she said softly.

“No,” he said. “He won’t be there.”

“Kill the man who did this to him,” she said fiercely. “Cut his head off and burn his body. _Destroy him._ ”

“I will. I promise.” He turned to his father, who nodded and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing for a moment before letting go. “We’ll be back later. Yuzu, can you stay here with her?”

“Yes,” she said, stroking back Karin’s hair as she began to cry again.

The two men left the room, passing Tatsuki in the hallway. Neither of them said a word, though Ichigo nodded for Tatsuki to go into the room, until they were downstairs with the assorted shinigami who had been sent to the world of the living and other allies. “Well?” Hisagi asked.

“It was Ginjou,” he said. “He killed Toshiro.”

Riruka’s eyes widened. “But…why? He stopped Tsukishima! Why would he turn on us?”

“I don’t know, but I intend to find out,” Ichigo said. “Who’s with me?” All the shinigami raised their hands, and Nelliel, Sado and Ishida did, too. Riruka looked down for a moment, and then Orihime nudged her, and both women raised their hands, Riruka with less reluctance than Ichigo would have thought. “We head out tonight. Be ready for anything.”


End file.
